Forced-out lifeguard says loophole allows him to stay

Feb. 8, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Retired Huntington Beach lifeguard Dave Simcox looks out from the Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguard headquarters. He was forced to retire on Feb. 1, months shy of celebrating his 50th anniversary as a lifeguard. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE REGISTER

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Retired Huntington Beach lifeguard Dave Simcox was forced to retire on Feb. 1, months shy of celebrating his 50th anniversary as a lifeguard and the 50th anniversary of the Junior Lifeguard program, which he has headed for decades. More than 600 people have signed a petition calling for the city to keep Simcox on board. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE REGISTER

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Retired Huntington Beach lifeguard Dave Simcox was forced by state law to retire on Feb. 1, months shy of celebrating his 50th anniversary as a lifeguard. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE REGISTER

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David Simcox after being hit by a pie in 1976 during an final day of the Junior Llifeguards. Youngsters would bid on pies and choose who would be a recipient of that pie in the face. COURTESY SIMCOX FAMILY

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David Simcox at a barbecue for all the Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguards and their families in an undated photo. COURTESY SIMCOX FAMILY

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David Simcox, left, jumps off the Huntington Beach Pier with the president of the friends of the Junior Lifeguards board during the 2005 lifeguard reunion. A reunion is held every five years. COURTESY SIMCOX FAMILY

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David Simcox, left, rides in an inflatable rescue boat in Tairua, New Zealand, during the 2009 exchange-program trip. COURTESY SIMCOX FAMILY

Retired Huntington Beach lifeguard Dave Simcox looks out from the Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguard headquarters. He was forced to retire on Feb. 1, months shy of celebrating his 50th anniversary as a lifeguard. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE REGISTER

HUNTINGTON BEACH – To log 50 years of employment and have it on paper – that's all former Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguard coordinator David Simcox wants.

A new state retirement law forced Simcox to give up his post on Feb. 1 – just months shy of his 50th anniversary with the city.

Now, more than 600 parents, employees and friends are rallying behind Simcox to persuade the city to find a way to let him stay one more summer.

In addition to June marking what would be the 50th anniversary of Simcox's time with the city, it's also the 50th anniversary of the Junior Lifeguards program, of which Simcox has been a part for 39 years.

"He has affected thousands and thousands of kids and parents," said Michelle West, who has two teenagers in the Junior Lifeguard program. "He needs to finish this. He needs to be able to help plan the 50th celebration of the guards and pass the torch on."

Dozens are expected to show up a City Council meeting on Feb. 19 wearing Junior Guard gear to show their support. Simcox and his wife, Kathy, said they expect that more than 1,000 people will sign the petition on change.org before the meeting. As of Friday afternoon, the petition had 664 signatures.

"It was a shock to everyone," said Kathy Simcox, who volunteers full-time for the Junior Lifeguards. "We don't want it to end. Not yet. In six months."

New state law

City leaders say their hands are tied.

Councilman Joe Shaw said at a recent meeting the council is bound by the city's charter, and it cannot get involved in personnel matters, except for the city manager.

He said the rule is in place to prevent inappropriate situations, such as council members pressuring city staff to hire friends or family or retaliating against a staff member for personal reasons.

"We cannot ask city staff to do anything like this. That's just not appropriate," Shaw said. "That's a protection that is in place for the residents of Huntington Beach."

City Manager Fred Wilson said the city also has no authorization to make an exception.

"There's a state law that prohibits the city from hiring a retired city employee," he said. "We had a one-year grace period, but because of that state law we simply can't hire him in that role."

The state law Wilson referenced is AB1028, which introduced changes to the California Public Employees' Retirement System in January 2012 and said that hiring retired employees, referred to by some as "double dippers," no longer would be allowed as of January 2013. That meant Simcox, as a rehired retiree, could not be kept.

But Simcox and his wife say they may have found a loophole and hope the city will acknowledge it.

"Huntington Beach felt they had to honor that law which, in truth, they have to. It's a law," he said. "The law ... is very open. It allows for people to continue working."

According to CalPERS, some retired employees can be rehired on a temporary basis in the case of an emergency or if special services are required.

Simcox said he believes he fulfills the requirements and wants to propose to the city that he come back for "far less" than his salary – which was about $28,800 last year, according to city records.

"We're not those six-figure people (the media) is talking about," Kathy Simcox said. "He coached and taught for 34 years so we could put two kids through college, get them married and on to grandchildren.

"It sounds awful when you say double-dipping, but in his situation, it's not."

Reaching for a milestone

Simcox is known for his booming voice on the beach, demanding respect and accountability from the young guards.

"We are, I feel, one of the very last strongholds of good manners," he said, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Junior Lifeguards headquarters to the stretch of beach where he's helped train thousands of kids over the years.

"We're semimilitaristic. We rip on the kids for not putting their trash in the trash can. We rip on the kids for cursing. We punish in push-ups. And you know what? The kids love it because we treat them all the same."

Simcox said he wants to stay, and it needs to be official. While volunteering for the program may be somewhere in his future, it's not the same, he said.

Some parents agree and say they think Simcox is being pushed out the back door and they'd like to see him get a proper goodbye.

"My initial reaction: I was really sad," said Wendy Rincon, a Junior Guard under Simcox for seven years in the 1980s who now has children in the program. "He had such a positive impact on me and my family, to not give him that one summer ... I think it shows (that) the impact he had on us didn't matter to the city."

Simcox was hired by the city in June 1964. The city was prepared to hire 10 lifeguards that year, and Simcox was No. 11.

Before the summer season, the recently hired lifeguards jumped from the pier to go body surfing, and one broke his foot.

Simcox took that lifeguard's place and never left.

The same year Simcox was hired as a lifeguard, the Junior Lifeguard program started in the city. Simcox started with that program in 1973 and was named coordinator a few years later.

He worked part-time for the city and held a full-time job as a teacher, swimming coach and water polo coach at Foothill High School.

He retired from both his positions in 2006 but was hired as a part-time employee with Huntington Beach the next day, he said.

Simcox said wants to help ease the transition for the current coordinator and to finish the exchange program he started with a group of Junior Lifeguards in New Zealand.

Recently, a group of Huntington Beach lifeguards visited New Zealand and Fiji for a 21-day training exchange, and the New Zealand guards are expected to come here this summer.

Mostly, Simcox said, he wants closure on a career he has loved and worked so hard for over the last 49½ years.

"I left teaching and I was perfectly happy with that, but it was hard to leave this; this is a magic place down here," Simcox said. "I'd like to carry through the summer and be involved."

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